Gyeonggi Province announced on Oct. 4 that it will send the case of Samsung Electronics Giheung business sites where three workers were dead or injured to the prosecution on charges of violating the Firefighting Facility Act.
In addition, the province will impose fines on the company for violating the Emergency Medical Service Act and the Firefighting Facilities Work Business Act.
According to Gyeonggi Province, Samsung Electronics has blocked normal operation of its firefighting facilities from Aug. 30 to Sept. 6, two days after the accident, by keeping its alarm system shut down. Samsung Electronics did not give a clear answer on why it stopped the alarm, the provincial government explained.
Samsung Electronics also transferred patients to its ambulance on the day of the accident, but it was confirmed that it did not submit a report on the treatment of the victims to a medical institution.
A Gyeonggi Province official said, “We demand severe punishment for Samsung Electronics` violations of the law, which are responsible for the accident.”
Samsung Electronics reported the deaths to the fire department, not immediately after the accident, causing controversy. Samsung Electronics argued that it followed the basic law for industrial safety, not the basic law for firefighting. The basic law for industrial safety requires reporting of major disasters such as one or more deaths.
At around 2 p.m. on April 4, two people died and one person was injured in a hallway next to the CO2 concentration room on the first basement of the Samsung Electronics Giheung business complex owing to the CO2 leakage.
